Clippers listening, but not liking, trade offers

Third-year guard Eric Bledsoe is one of the Clippers most likely to be included in a trade, but no proposed deals have appealed to the Clippers. JIM MONE, AP

PLAYA VISTA – With the NBA's trade deadline set for noon Thursday, the Clippers have to ask and answer one important question.

Is this team, with its current roster, a championship team?

"I think our team has been outstanding. I think chemistry has been outstanding," Clippers guard Chris Paul said Wednesday. "The way we've been playing is great; we're number three in the West. Unfortunately, we had a few injuries, but we're in a good place.

"I like where we are."

And it seems like the Clippers are going to stay there.

"Nothing's been presented that makes sense for us to do anything else," Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro said.

Despite being linked to trade speculation about Boston big man Kevin Garnett and Utah forward Paul Milsap, the Clippers seem likely to try and be a championship team with their current players.

Del Negro and vice president of basketball operations Gary Sacks haven't been wowed by any offer that has come the Clippers' way.

"There hasn't been anything where either one of us has said, 'That makes sense,'" Del Negro said.

It seems that if the Clippers were to pull off a major move, it would have to involve third-year guard Eric Bledsoe or fifth-year center DeAndre Jordan.

"They're young players that teams covet. That's a good thing," Del Negro said. "That's a good thing for us; that's a good thing for them.

"But we feel good team with our team right now."

Paul said he has spoken with Bledsoe about the trade rumors, and he's confident Bledsoe can handle the chatter.

"He understands it's a business, and he understands how much he means to this team," Paul said. "If you would've seen him the last two days of practice, he's been hooping. I pulled him to the side after this one and told him, 'I can't guard you. In practice, I can't stay in front of you. That's why I stay on you during the games. If you're going to do me like this in practice, I want you to do the opponents like that in the games.'"

Despite Bledsoe and Jordan's value to the team currently, the Clippers aren't shut off to the possibility of making a deal before the deadline.

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